Landskron Castle

Landskron sits on a rock between Villach and the Ossiacher See, a sixteenth-century Renaissance castle that burned after a lightning strike in 1812 and was left as a ruin. The courtyard now holds a birds of prey centre running free-flight displays several times a day with eagles, vultures and falcons over the audience and the valley behind them, and below the castle is Affenberg, an enclosure of several hectares of forest holding a colony of well over a hundred Barbary macaques, a species from North Africa, living in a group structure with visitors walking through on guided rounds rather than viewing from outside. The view from the ruin covers the Drau valley, the Karawanken and the Julian Alps. A restaurant occupies part of the walls.

History

The lands around Lake Ossiach are first named in a deed of 878 by the East Frankish king Carloman, and a castle already stood here when the Counts of Ortenburg acquired the estates in 1330; Landskron itself is first named in 1351, when Duke Albert II of Austria bought and rebuilt it, and it later passed in pledge to Count Hermann II of Celje and in 1511 to the Order of Saint George at Millstatt, while it decayed. In 1542 Emperor Ferdinand I sold it to Christoph von Khevenhüller, who made it his main residence and rebuilt it in lavish Renaissance style, receiving Emperor Charles V here in 1552; the Protestant Khevenhüllers lost it in 1628, it passed to the Dietrichstein family in 1639, and in 1812 a fire caused by lightning left it a ruin, conserved from 1953 with a restaurant in its walls (Wikipedia, Landskron Castle - Carinthia).

What's there

• A ruined Renaissance castle - burned after a lightning strike in 1812.
• Free-flight eagle displays - birds of prey flown over the courtyard daily.
• A Barbary macaque colony - over a hundred animals in forest, walked through on tours.
• A view over the Drau - the valley, Karawanken and Julian Alps from the walls.

When to go

April to October; displays run to a daily timetable. Half a day.

What to expect

The bird displays and the macaque enclosure each charge separately and run at set times. Both close for winter. Macaques are wild animals - guides set rules about touching and food.

Nearby

Villach and the Ossiacher See are below; the Faaker See is south.

Key facts